1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a shoe clip and, in particular, a shoe clip for attachment of articles to the laces, straps or other fastening devices of a shoe.
2. Background Information
It is often desired to attach small components, such as coins, keys, identification race chips, computational devices and/or electronic devices to the laces, straps or like devices of boots, sandals, running-shoes and so forth. Hereinafter, the various types of shoes will be included in the term “shoe” and the various types of laces, straps and so forth will be included in the term “laces.” The attaching of the components to the shoe in this manner relieves the user from carrying the components in his or her hand or carrying the components in various pockets. For some components, such as, the race chip or certain computational devices or electronic devices, attachment to the shoe is required for the proper functioning of the component.
Prior known shoe attachment mechanisms consist mainly of simple shoe lace tie-in devices that have lace holes built into them. To use the devices, the user unlaces the shoe lace from three or four eyelets, runs the lace through the lace holes of the attachment mechanism and then re-runs the lace through the eyelets. This method is particularly bothersome, however, because the shoe must be continuously unlaced and laced when the device is placed on or taken off of the shoe. Further, the fit of the shoe may be adversely affected if the laced sides of the shoe do not compensate for the extra bulk of the attached components.
Other known attachment mechanisms, such as Velcro loops, do not provide a sufficiently rigid connection between the component and the laces. Accordingly, the component moves around on the laces when a user moves, and the movement of the component may thus distract the user or adversely affect the performance of the device.